516 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 357. 



tions on the Red Oak group, that they may be included in 

 the forthcoming volume of The Silva of North America, 

 which will be devoted to the description of our Oaks. 



Of the names of this tree, the oldest is Torrey's coccinea, 

 var. microcarpa, but microcarpa, fortunately, is not avail- 

 able, as it had been used earlier by Liebmann for a Mexi- 

 can Oak, and Buckley's Quercus Texana can be kept up. 



The illustration in this issue, on page 515, Fig. 81, repre- 

 sents (1) a fruiting branch of Quercus Texana from the 

 neighborhood of Mount Carmel, Illinois, natural size ; (2) 

 an acorn from Austin, Texas, natural size ; (3) an acorn 

 from a tree growing in the streets of New Orleans, natural 

 size ; (4) a winter-bud, enlarged ; that on page 517, Fig. 82, 

 represents (1) the type specimen of Quercus coccinea, 

 var. microcarpa (?), collected by Dr. Bigelow on the Pecos 

 River and preserved in the Herbarium of Columbia Col- 

 lege ; and (2) a winter-bud from the same specimen, 

 enlarged. C. S. S. 



Plant Notes. 



Viburnum opulus. — This is our native Cranberry-tree, and, 

 although not uncommon in cultivation, should be more 

 frequently planted. It is a strong and quick-growing shrub 

 of good size, flourishing under almost any conditions of soil 

 and surroundings ; the foliage is good ; the flowers are 

 white, in broad cymes, and are followed in late summer 

 by its bright-colored fruit. In the fruit is the great beauty of 

 the shrub ; the berries, when ripe, are a brilliant deep 

 scarlet, having passed through various intermediate stages 

 of reds and yellows ; they are borne in large clusters on 

 the tips of the branches, well above the leaves, and keep in 

 good condition until severe frost, after which, although 

 they hang on all winter, they take a duller hue, and are not 

 so attractive. Sometimes they are used for cooking, either 

 as a sauce, as cranberries are prepared, or made into jelly ; 

 to many palates the somewhat astringent flavor is not 

 agreeable. The plant is widely distributed over the north- 

 ern parts of both continents. The common Snowball is a 

 sport from this plant, when the fertile flowers are changed 

 into ray or sterile flowers. There is also a dwarf variety, 

 which makes a compact and symmetrical growth, some- 

 times effectively used in formal gardening. A form grown 

 at the Arnold Arboretum, from seeds collected among the 

 mountains about Pekin, promises well, the flowers and fruit 

 being larger and finer than the common types. The prop- 

 agation is by layers, by hard-wood cuttings, or by seeds, 

 which require two years for germination. 



Daphne odora. — Before the days of gas and furnaces the 

 Daphne was a favorite house-plant, and the delicious fra- 

 grance of its flowers filled many living-rooms from 

 Thanksgiving through the Christmas holidays ; now it is 

 rare; in fact, well-grown plants are hard to find. It is a 

 slow-growing greenhouse evergreen shrub, introduced from 

 China into England in 1 77 1 ; the flowers are white, with 

 purple markings beneath, and borne in clusters ; the foliage 

 is a rich dark green of good substance. The cultural re- 

 quirements are not exacting ; it should be grown in a cool 

 house in a rather heavy soil, which, however, should con- 

 tain plenty of peat and some sharp sand ; it should never 

 be overpotted and never be allowed to suffer from lack of 

 water. If carefully handled, it can be planted out in a 

 border, where the growth will be much stronger and the 

 flowers more abundant. The propagation is by hard-wood 

 cuttings in winter. 



Cestrum (Habrothamnus) aurantiacum. — This old-fash- 

 ioned autumn-blooming plant is almost entirely overlooked 

 in the scramble for big Chrysanthemums. A native of 

 Guatemala, it has long been in cultivation, and is very 

 desirable, since it blooms from September to December, 

 when greenhouse flowers are least abundant. The great 

 beauty of the plant is in the large panicles of orange-yellow 

 flowers which bloom in profusion on the tips of the sum- 

 mer's growth ; they are somewhat waxy in texture, of fair 



size and good shape ; when used for cut flowers the stems 

 should be short, and more than the usual supply of water 

 given. The plant should be grown in a cool house, and, 

 although it does fairly well in pots under the same general 

 treatment which would be given to Bouvardias, the best 

 results are obtained by planting it out in a well-prepared 

 border, and training it on a wall or as a bush. The growth 

 is quick and sturdy, so plenty of room for roots and top 

 must be given. To insure the characteristic abundant 

 bloom the plant must be cut back severely in June ; all 

 weak wood being removed, it must be encouraged to 

 make a good growth during the summer months. The 

 tendency to grow after blooming during the winter should 

 be checked, although no harm is done by this growth 

 unless the June pruning is neglected ; this winter growth 

 often promises a second crop of flowers, which is seldom 

 realized. The propagation is by cuttings. 



Ipomcea setosa. — This is a good climbing plant for an 

 arbor or piazza. It makes a rapid growth, and the large 

 overlapping leaves form an excellent screen and a dense 

 shade. Mr. W. E. Britton, Horticulturist of the Experiment 

 Station at New Haven, writes that seeds of this Brazilian 

 Morning Glory were sown there about the middle of last 

 May, but only a single plant escaped the attack of cut- 

 worms. Before the first of August it had attained sufficient 

 size to make it very attractive. The luxuriant growth, 

 large leaves, and stem covered with bristles, combine to 

 give it a decidedly tropical aspect. The first flower ap- 

 peared the first of September, and the plant continued to 

 grow and blossom until destroyed by frost about the mid- 

 dle of October. The greatest number of flowers counted 

 at any time was forty. In shape the flower resembles that 

 of the common Morning Glory, and is of a delicate rose-color. 

 The flowers of this individual plant measured two and one- 

 half inches in diameter, and the leaves were six inches 

 across. In its native climate the leaves are said to meas- 

 ure twelve inches across and the blossoms four inches, 

 but it is hardly to be expected that such dimensions can 

 be attained in the northern United States. 



Cultural Department. 



Some Winter-flowering Plants. 



SMALL plants of Pleroma macranthum floribundum, in four- 

 inch pots, are now showing their large flowers in profu- 

 sion. The type, P. macranthum, flowers most abundantly 

 when it gets to be a large plant, and it likes plenty of root- 

 room either in large pots or planted out in a border. This 

 variety, however, is better suited for pot-culture, and small 

 plants six or eight inches high flower freely. The short 

 branches have oblong-ovate acuminate leaves, and the large 

 brilliant violet-blue flowers are nearly six inches in diameter 

 and produced singly at the ends of the branches. Cuttings 

 taken in spring root easily, and grown on in rich open soil 

 soon make flowering plants. It was introduced from Brazil in 

 1870, but has not become common yet. The original plant 

 here was received a few years ago from the Botanic Garden, 

 Glasgow, Scotland. 



A plant, five feet high and three across, of Toxicophlasa 

 (Acokanthera) spectabilis, or Winter-sweet, has large dense 

 sprays of white corymbous flowers, which are exceptionally 

 fragrant at this time. It is easily grown, an excellent winter- 

 flowering plant, and should be in every collection where odor- 

 ous white flowers are wanted. The plants are grown here in 

 an intermediate house, and in spring they are potted firmly in 

 good rich soil. In summer they are placed out-of-doors in a 

 sunny position, and early in the fall they are taken back to the 

 greenhouse and placed in a position where they can get plenty 

 of light. Before they, begin to bloom, a few waterings with weak 

 liquid-manure is very beneficial to them. Another species, 

 Toxicophlffia Thunbergii, is also grown here, but is not in 

 bloom yet. 



Another handsome plant with very fragrant flowers, now in 

 bloom, is Osmanthus fragrans — one plant being sufficient to 

 perfume a whole house. It is a native of Japan and China and 

 was brought into cultivation more than a century ago. Small 

 plants flower very freely; but large plants, from four to six 



